EU trade chief wants results on trade talks with China by October

BRUSSELS, June 29 (Reuters) - EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic, who met China's commerce minister Wang Wentao in Brussels on Monday, said he wanted talks on trade to yield tangible results by October, during a scheduled trip to Beijing.

Talks were "intensive, focused and constructive," he told reporters on Monday, adding both national delegations will keep talking during the evening.

"We think that between now and October, our teams have sufficient time to deliver tangible results," he said. Wang invited him to travel to Beijing in October.

Sefcovic insisted the EU wants the talks to address the widening trade gap.

"China's exports to the EU keep rising, while our market share in China keeps shrinking. This trend is not sustainable and the status quo is not an option," he said.

He said both sides set up groups to discuss trade balance, export controls, intellectual property and WTO reform.

The assurances given by China that rare earth controls will not disrupt EU supply chains are positive, he said.

China's commerce ministry, in a statement released early on Tuesday morning, said that Wang had also raised concerns over the EU's draft Cybersecurity Law and Industrial Accelerator Act, and reiterated Beijing's stance that Brussels should not see "China as the root of the EU's problems."

European Union leaders have asked the Commission, which handles trade relationships for the bloc, to produce results from dialogue with China, as its trade surplus with the EU hit €360.6 billion ($411.95 billion) in 2025, a 15% increase on 2024. The surplus has expanded by 10% in the first four months of this year. 

($1 = 0.8754 euros)

(Reporting by Inti Landauro; Editing by Charlotte Van Campenhout, Alexandra Hudson and Stephen Coates)